Tool for opening money sacks and packages



I Ndv. 24, 1959 J. R. WALLBILLICH 2,913,822

. TOOL FOR OPENING MONEY SACKS AND PACKAGES Filed April 1, 1957 [HI/677tar-r by 'z H/ls Attorney Jvcob R h g/bf/lich United StatesBatent imamTOOL FOR OPENING MONEY-stacks Jacob R. =Wallbillihi" Schenectady, N.Y.Application April 1,-19s1,sertstiso. 649,818

1 Claim. (Cl. 30-294 My invention relates to a new and useful tool foropening cord or twine bound sacks or packages. It has particularvreference to such a device which will sever the cord without damagingthe sacks or packages or their contents.

In the past, coin departments in banks and receiving room clerks indepartment stores have uniformly utilized a pen knife, a razor blade, ora pair of scissors to cut the cord with which sacks and packages arebound. The use of such tools has frequently resulted in injury to theuser such as the cutting or piercing of a hand when the' cord suddenlygives way as well as damage to the container causing unnecessary wasteand expense. Damage has occurred particularly when reusable cloth moneysacks have been opened because the twine binding such sacks is wrappedextremely tight to prevent accidental opening of the sacks and the clothmaterial of the sacks is bunched at the point of tying making it timeconsuming and difiicultto open the sacks without damaging them. Inaddition, clerks have sometimes carelessly pierced packages in openingthem and damaged their contents.

Accordingly, an object of my invention is to provide a tool designed toopen cord bound sacks and packages safely and without damage to thesacks or packages being opened.

Another object of my invention is to provide a cord severing tool whichis simple in design and is safe and easy to use.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent andmy invention will be better understood from the accompanying descriptionin which reference is made to the attached drawing and features ofnovelty which characterize my invention will be more particularlypointed out in the claim annexed to and forming part of thisspecification.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side view of the preferred form of the toolof my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the tool shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the tool shown in Fig. 1;

Harris; sectional view of my tool taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 illustrates the use of the tool of my invention for openinga cordbound money sack; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view illustrating the use of my tool in openinga package.

In accordance with one aspect of my invention, I provide a tool havingan aligned handle and blade which are secured together. The blade is oftriangular cross section and terminates in a blunt curved end forinsertion under the cord to be cut. The flat bottom of the tool oppositethe cutting edge provides a bearing surface to prevent damage to thepackage being opened and to urge the cutting edge into contact with thecord when the tool is moved in a simple forward direction.

Referring now to the drawing, in which like reference numerals refer tolike parts, there is shown my improved tool having a handle 10 providedwith a metallic ferrule 11 about an apertured end thereof. The flatportion 12 of the handle 10 is provided for convenience in gripping andholding the tool and is in alignment with the cutting edge of theblade13. j 'g The elongated cutting blade 13 is secured to the handle10in aligned relationship therewith by means of a tang 14 which isinserted into the apertured end of the handle 10with a force fit. Thecutting blade 13 terminates in a blunt end .15 which is tape'red so asto become smaller at its outermost extremity. The end 15 is gentlycurved in the upward direction, asshown in Fig. 1', for reasonshereinafter more fully explained.

Cutting blade 13 is preferably of a generally triangular cross section,as best shown in Fig. 4, and is provided with a cutting edge 16 at thetop thereof. A generally flat bottom 18 is provided on the cutting blade13 opposite the cuting edge 16. The corners of the bottom 18 arerounded, as indicated at 18a in Fig. 4.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the cutting tool of my invention can he slippedbetween the folds of the cloth material of a sack 19 beneath cord 20.The blunt end of the blade 15 prevents the cutting tool from piercingthe sack 19 during insertion and use. By curving the end 15 of the blade13, the tool may be held in a convenient position for operating at anangle with respect to the cord to be cut. In addition, by tapering theend 15 and providing the rounded corners at 18a the end 15 may beinserted under the cord 20 even when it is tightly bound around the sackand the material forming the folds of the sack is easily and smoothlyspread apart to leave only the cord 20 above the cutting edge 16. A fiatportion 17 on the blunt end 15 permits the cuting tool to be inserted asubstantial distance under the cord 20 so that the fold of the sack isopened or spread apart at the point where it is intended to cut the cord20 before the sharp cutting edge 16 contacts the twine 20.

Because of the large bearing surface provided by the bottom 18 of thetool, the pressure exerted on the cutting edge 16 due to the wedgingaction between the blade 13 and the sack 19 is distributed over a largearea of the material of the sack and only a simple forward movement ofthe tool by the user is required to sever the cord 20 quickly andeasily. It is important that the user be able to merely move the tool ina direction away from himself because this eliminates the hazard of theuser accidentally cutting or stabbing himself.

I have found it desirable that the cutting edge 16 be serrated as shownin Fig. 3 since this enables the tool to sever the fibers of the cord 20individually rather than cutting the total cross section of the cord 20at one time.

As shown in Fig. 6, my improved cutting tool can also be used foropening cord tied boxes or packages by inserting the tool between a box22 and its tying cord 23 and simply moving the tool forward away fromthe user. The large bearing surface 18 of the blade 13 prevents marringthe box even where the box is finished with a decorative design.

As used herein, the term cor includes, string, twine and other similarbinding materials and the term packages" includes sacks, boxes andsimilar containers tied or enclosed by cord.

While I have shown and described particular embodiments of my invention,modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art. I wish itto be understood, therefore. that I intend by the appended claim tocover all such modifications which do not depart from the spirit andscope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A cutting tool for opening a cord bound sack having folds of materialunder the cord comprising a handle and an elongated blade of generallytriangular cross section secured thereto, said blade being provided witha cutting edge and a blunt end curved upwardly in the direction ofPatented Nov. 24', 1959 3 i 4 the cutting edge, theblunticnd being flaton its upper sur-' Refe Cited in theme of this P face, the side ofthe'blad opposite said cutting edge being substantially equal in widthto the height of the blade to UNITED STATES PATENTS provide an enlargedfiat bearing surface for contacting 777,568 Terryberry Dec. 13, 1904 thematerialof the saclr upon the insertion of said tool 5 1,268,997 PruettJune 11, 1918 into a fold between the sack and the' cord, said blunt end1,398,850 Franco Nov. 29, 1921 being taperedfrom a smaller dimension atits extremity 1,477,510 Martin I Dec. 11, 1923 to substa'ntially thefull width of said blade andthe lead- 1,695,022 R ankin Dec. 11, 1928ing end of said cutting edge being positioned substantially 2,705,833Granti l-.. Apr. 12, 1955 at [the point where the side of thebladeopposite the ,cut- 10 ting edge is full Width, whereby the'tapere'dblunt end T FOREIGN PAT serve s, to spread .thefolds 'of the materialapart before the 98,777 Germany June 3, 1897 cordis engaged by thecutting edge."

